Bookie Betting Johnny Depp Will Play Michael Jackson in Biopic

With Variety reporting that Michael Jackson's lawyer, John Branca, is shopping around a movie based on the King of Pop's life, speculation is already rampant over who will play Jackson. British betting house Paddy Power is putting odds on Johnny Depp to star in the movie. The bookmaker has him at 4 to 1 to play Jackson, despite the fact that Depp is white and Jackson was African American.

Other actors earning decent odds include Zac Efron (9 to 2), Usher (6 to 1) and Jaden Smith (6 to 1) who one assumes would play Jackson in his early years.

If the film gets made, it could help keep Jackson at the top of our annual list of the Top Earning Dead Celebrities. Jacko Jackson [ed note: I didn't realize Jacko was considered an offensive term], who passed away two and a half years ago after a drug overdose, earned $170 million over the past 12 months. He'll keep earning big from his music, his stake in Sony's ATV catalog and profits from the Cirque du Soliel show based on Jackson's music: The Immortal World Tour.

According to the Variety report, Branca (who is the executor of Jackson's estate) has met with Ivan Reitman and Tom Pollack about producing the film. If the estate keeps a strong hand in the production, it will be in a position to take a healthy share of the film's profits.

This Is It, the posthumous documentary based on rehearsal footage from the comeback tour Jackson was working on when he died, earned a healthy $261 million at the global box office. A biographical film, especially one with a big name star like Johnny Depp attached, could do even better. That film was distributed by Sony which also distributes Jackson's music so look for the studio to play a big part in any potential biopic.

Who do you think should play Michael Jackson in a biopic of the star?

I live in Los Angeles and I'm lucky enough to write about the thing I love most: movies. I'm a graduate of Vassar College and Northwestern University and for 15 years I worked at Forbes mostly covering the entertainment industry. Although I've moved into the world of corpora...